Bishop Carter to Lead Western NC
May 15, 2021
The Council of Bishops has announced that Bishop Ken Carter will serve as the resident bishop of Western North Carolina Conference (Charlotte Area), in addition to his role as resident bishop of Florida Conference (Florida Area) beginning on September 1, 2021 upon Bishop Leeland's retirement. We look forward to welcoming Bishop Carter home to Western NC and fruitful ministry together.
Bishop Carter shares this message:
This weekend it was announced that I will begin to serve as bishop of two annual conferences, Florida and Western North Carolina, as of September 1, 2021. This was the recommendation of the Southeastern Jurisdiction Committee on Episcopacy, the SEJ College of Bishops, and the Council of Bishops.
I will begin my tenth year in Florida this fall. I have been blessed by you and sense there is important ministry before us: supporting vital local churches, dismantling racism, clergy health and resilience, and proclaiming the message of the continuing United Methodist Church as our way of sharing the grace of Jesus Christ with the people of our communities and beyond.
I will begin serving the Western North Carolina Conference. This is my home conference, one that supported and confirmed my calling to the work of a bishop. At the same time, I have been away from the conference for nine years, and so I will enter into a time of deep and active listening to and sharing with leaders across the conference in the fall.
To serve both annual conferences, Florida and Western North Carolina, will require a model of shared leadership, flexibility and residence in both areas. I thank Jennifer Davis, Kim Ingram, Molly McEntire and Alex Shanks, who serve on the SEJ Committee on Episcopacy. I am grateful for the faithful leadership of Bishop Paul Leeland. I thank you all for your faith in me and for our partnership in the gospel (Philippians 1. 5). I will give myself wholly to this work, and I ask for your prayers; indeed, I depend on them. I am excited about the future and claim the promise: “God is able to accomplish abundantly far more than all we can ask or imagine” (Ephesians 3. 20).
Read Bishop Leeland's retirement announcement here.
The Annual Conference 2021 Offering is being collected in honor of Bishop Leeland and his wife, Janet, with gratitude for all they have done during their time of ministry with the Western North Carolina Conference. Visit the Annual Conference 2021 Offering Page to make a gift in their honor.